LITTLE LEAGUE SENIORS: Chino National falls again

On Sunday morning Chino National was not able to overcome a strong start by Arizona Apaches pitcher Angel Zuniga in the Little League Senior Western Regional Jay Littleton Ballpark in Ontario.

Arizona beat Chino 5-3 as defensive mistakes caused havoc for the Nationals along with a lack of clutch hitting.

Al Cruz came up in the first inning with an RBI double to put the Apaches up 1-0. Into the top of the second Chino came back with a run of its own as Patrick Vizcaino came through to tie the game with an RBI single to bring in Nathan Mejia who had singled.

The Apaches came back again with a run of its own after a Chino wild pitch to lead 2-1 after two full.

When asked what didn't work well, coach Mejia responded, "defense, we pride ourselves on defense and today we botched a fly ball in the first inning, we had an 0-2 count on Al Cruz and left the ball over the plate that he tattooed to give them a 1-0 lead, we bounced back and tied the

game but we just couldn't get that shut down inning."

Heading into the third Chino starting pitcher, Joshua Thornton got into trouble as Arizona received a walk, a hit batter, and a single to load the bases with two outs. Julian Vega stepped to the plate and the first pitch was a wild one which allowed one run to score. Later in the at-bat Vega singled to drive in one more run as the Apaches went up 4-1 after three.

Jesus Solis came through with a RBI single in the fifth as Arizona went up 5-1.

In the sixth Austin Alamillo singled to lead off the inning and was followed by an Anthony Orosco single. After a fly out, Jacob Wren singled to load the bases for Vizcaino, who brought in one run on a groundout as Arizona led 5-2 after six. Chase Price struck out to end the inning.

In the seventh Alamillo drove in Diego Martinez with an RBI double to cut Arizona's lead to 5-3.

Thornton pitched well overall but wasn't able to overcome his counterpart, Zuniga whom held Chino's offense at bay in clutch situations.

Zuniga pitched a complete game giving up three runs on nine hits.

Thornton had nine strikeouts while giving up five runs on seven hits including three wild pitches.

"He's a bulldog, he's a competitor and an athlete and I'm sure if he had to do it over again he would throw a different 0-2 pitch," said coach Mejia about the first inning pitch to Cruz and the wild pitches that scored two runs for Arizona. "Unfortunately the ball skips on the catcher and those two passed balls are huge or else it'd be a 3-3 ballgame right now and we could still be possibly playing extra innings."

Chino now sits at 4-2 and looking outside in on the championship game on Tuesday, and will

need Hawaii or Manhattan Beach to help them out with a loss.

"You never want to admit that your kind of at the end of the road but we put ourselves in a terrible situation, we need tons of help and unfortunately when you got to bank on other people not playing well then chances are that's not going to happen," said coach Mejia. "You need to take care of business on your own when you're out on defense and not bank on other people not being able to protect the ball."

SoCal 4, Washington 2

Washington gave Manhattan Beach all it could handle but Manhattan Beach found a way to pull it out in a 4-2 victory.

Washington starting pitcher Marquece Williams pitched his heart out and for a while had Manhattan Beach's number.

Williams went 5 2/3 innings while giving up three earned runs on five hits, three walks, and seven strikeouts.

"Very methodical, we were helping them out in the zone on offense, our scouting report was that (Williams) struggled with lefty hitters, and he didn't struggle with lefty hitters today, but a win's a win but it was nerve racking there top five when they went up 2-1," said Manhattan Beach manager Carlos Rojas.

Williams was on from the get go placing his pitches and sneaking his fastball past surprised Manhattan Beach hitters.

"He was a very good pitcher, he had a sneaky fastball that when you went up there it had some strength to it," said Logan Pollack about Williams performance.

Manhattan Beach tied the game up at two in the bottom of the fifth when Luke McCauley came through on an RBI single. Two batters later Jackson Michalski drove in a runner on a sac-fly to center to lead 3-2. Will Proctor then hit a sky high ball which became trouble for Washington's shortstop as he made an error allowing one more run to score as Manhattan Beach led 4-2 after five innings.

"We came out flat to start the game off cause we thought it was going to be a rollover but we got back in it and once they got that 1-0 lead we weren't going to let them take it from us," said Pollack.

Monday morning at 9 am Manhattan Beach will take on Montana as it looks to improve to 6-1.

"We're going to try to get going earlier tomorrow, Montana is a good team and we can't take them lightly," said Pollack.

Hawaii 11, Montana 1

Hawaii now stands at 5-1 and looks like the favorite to not only reach the championship game on Tuesday evening but to reach the World Series in Maine to represent the west coast.

Hawaii's overall consistent offensive output and effective pitching staff has been on a roll and looks like there is no end near in sight.

Northern California 22, Oregon 5

Jarad Cadell went six strong while giving up five runs for Rocklin. Eric Fessenden had an RBI triple to lead 8-3 in the fifth and led 10-3 after six innings.

Kyle Schafer got the top of the sixth started with a two-run double and the hitting never stopped in a 12-run inning to fully dominate Oregon.